If Maplewood Mall allowed tailgating, it would be like "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" all over again for the next two weekends.
The mall's noisemaker neighbor Myth nightclub landed a coup with Saturday's concert by Judas Priest, whose 1986 tour was the site/inspiration for "Parking Lot" (a cult-loved documentary featuring leather-clad, feathered-haired fans in preconcert party mode). There might even be more hootin' and hollerin' over the Scorpions, who are performing at Myth next Friday.
Priest's last local show was a bloated Xcel Energy Center concert in 2005, so this is a welcome chance to see them scale back. The Scorpions, who haven't performed in the Twin Cities since 1994 -- what, our dollar is no good to you rich Germans anymore?! -- so it's a rare chance to see them, period. Here are some other comparisons between the two European metal giants.
HEROIC LEAD SINGER
Priest: Rob Halford is a hero to gay metalheads everywhere, even though he was closeted throughout the '80s.
Scorps: Klaus Meine is a hero to short metalheads everywhere (he's 5 feet 4), even though he wore heels throughout the '80s.
DUELING GUITARISTS
Priest: Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, who are really good at swaying their guitars together in unison to the music.
Scorps: Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs, who are really good at rubbing their butts together in unison to the music.
MOST SPINAL TAP MOMENT
Priest: On a 1990 tour, Halford crashed his omnipresent Harley-Davidson into the drum riser, breaking his nose. The accident reportedly caused a rift in the band and helped lead to his departure a year later (they reunited in 2003).
Scorps: The cover of "Love at First Sting," featuring an aroused babe straddling a guy who's tattooing a scorpion on her thigh, was altered for many chain stores, which deemed it offensive (much like the Tap's cover for "Smell the Glove").
BIGGEST TWIN CITIES SHOW EVER
Priest: The Met Center in Bloomington, 1979, when it stole the show from headliner Kiss.
Scorps: The Monsters of Rock concert at the Metrodome, 1988, when some young band named Metallica stole the show (though the Scorps still topped the newly Sammy Hagar-ized Van Halen).
BIGGEST SONG = WORST VIDEO
Priest: "Breaking the Law," wherein a bank guard plays a cardboard guitar while the band gets away in a convertible (performing the whole time). Even video authoritarians Beavis and Butt-head, who frequently chanted the song's chorus, commented, "I like Priest and everything, but this sucks."
Scorps: "Rock You Like a Hurricane," with a cheap, "Dr. Who"-like sci-fi set featuring a cage that sways and bends under the crush of fans, especially scantily clad women in feline costumes. B&B also had a field day with this one.
Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658
